‘Dangerous elements’ in Cham population: US report

By Craig Guthrie

The Mekong Times

The US government’s country report on Cambodia’s counter-terrorism efforts in 2007 has praised the government for its anti-terrorism efforts, but warned fatal flaws in society, border control and dangerous elements in the nation’s Cham Muslim present a terrorism threat.“Cambodia’s political leadership demonstrated a strong commitment to take aggressive action against terrorists [in 2007] … However, Cambodia’s ability to investigate potential terrorist activities was limited by a lack of training and resources,” said the US Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism’s country report for Cambodia, released Apr 30.“[P]orous borders, endemic corruption, massive poverty, high unemployment, a poor education system and disaffected elements in the Cham Muslim population … leave the country vulnerable to terrorism and terrorist influence,” it added.Cham Muslims, which make up approximately five percent of the population, are not considered politically active, but the government feared last year that Cham areas were again being used as “safe havens” for terrorists, according to the report.The report cites the case of Bali bomber Hambali, a key member of Jemaah Islamiya who it said took refuge in a Muslim school in Kandal province in 2002-2003.Ahmed Yahya, the leader of the Cambodian Islamic Association and an ethnic Cham, strongly disagreed with the US State Department’s charges against his people.“I don’t know why the State Department continues to cite the case of the Kandal school and I don’t know why it continues to try and give Cham Muslims a bad image… Sometimes they say we are good, sometimes bad,” he said.There has been no rise in fundamentalism amongst Cambodian Cham Muslims, who are only concerned with improving their living standards, said Ahmed Yahya. “I am in communication with the communities each day and there are no terrorist sympathies among them,” he stressed.